Meredith Brooks

Not only was she academically gifted and able to graduate high school by the time she was 15, but Meredith also acquired her guitar-playing skills at the early age of 11. She got her hands on her elder sister's guitar and eventually mastered the instrument by teaching it to herself and imitating the guitar-playing of legendary musicians such as Eric Clapton.

As a teenager, Meredith joined several bands in the Seattle and Portland area, all the while writing and recording demo tapes. With her parents behind her career choice since her younger days, Meredith decided to head for Los Angeles in 1986 to better her chances of becoming a professional musician.

Once in L.A., Meredith continued playing in bars until she finally became a member of the female group The Graces, with Charlotte Caffey (formerly of the Go-Go's). The group signed with A&M Records in 1989 and released the album Perfect View that same year. The Graces went their separate ways in 1991.

After the band's breakup, Meredith took some time for herself. She married Russell Jackson (who she divorced several years later) and began to partake in spiritual, soul-searching activities such as yoga and psychology.

Part of this soul-searching was becoming involved in charity work such as the foundation of Planet Art, aimed at turning creative endeavors into businesses. She underwent therapy while she counseled runaway teens.

Although not actually performing, this time period was not considered a break from music as Meredith continued to write songs. After an 8-year hiatus from the music industry, she re-emerged with her hit single, "Bitch".

It was just the right time for such an angry, aggressive song, what with the world having already been rocked by Alanis Morissette's very angry lyrics.

Morissette had planted the seeds for Meredith and the slew of female musicians who were giving men -- and the world -- a piece of their mind.

Meredith's debut solo album, Blurring the Edges was released several weeks after "Bitch"'s release, under Capitol Records. Both the album and the single went platinum, and Meredith was set to tour the world.

That same year, See It Through My Eyes was released, which was one of the demo tapes that Meredith had recorded 13 years earlier, during her learning stage.

As part of the successful all-female concert tour, Lilith Fair, Meredith was part of a concert bill consisting of Chantal Kreviazuk, Jewel, Lisa Loeb, Sarah McLachlan, and Queen Latifah.

Meredith followed up her phenomenally successful debut in 1999, with the album Deconstruction. This installment blends some hip-hop into the rock style mix, and features Meredith on vocals and taking care of all the guitar-playing.

She was last heard on the soundtrack for the Nicolas Cage film Snake Eyes, with the song "Sin City".

With two MTV Video Award nominations for "Bitch", a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Performance, and a second social-awareness organization under her belt, this female rock star has nothing to bitch about.